Intro

Gender Parity by 2030

The Paradigm for Parity®coalition is comprised of business leaders, board members and academics committed to addressing the corporate leadership gender gap. The coalition is differentiated by three factors: (1) a commitment from the top, (2) a clear plan of action that drives impact, and (3) mutual accountability for measurable results. It is the first organization of its kind to outline a specific set of actions that, when implemented concurrently, will accelerate the pace of achieving gender parity. The Paradigm for Parity® 5-Point Action Plan will catalyze change and enable committed companies to more effectively increase the number of women of all backgrounds in leadership positions.

LATEST NEWS

On Wednesday, June 20, Ellen Kullman, a co-chair of the Paradigm for Parity® coalition and the former President and CEO of DuPont, outlined the steps companies can take to level the playing field for women in the workplace as a panelist at CNBC‘s Talent@Work Event.

Yesterday, Ellen Kullman, a co-chair of the Paradigm for Parity® coalition, joined CBS 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl for a conversation around gender inequity in the workplace. The segment also featured three companies of the more than 70 members of the Paradigm for Parity® coalition that have committed to achieve parity in leadership by 2030 – Salesforce, Linkage and NFP.

Apr 16, 2018

#DYK that the United States is the ONLY industrialized country without a national paid leave policy for new mothers… https://t.co/gTLOmPv7fN

BLOG

To celebrate Black History month, the Paradigm for Parity® coalition is recognizing trailblazers who have been leaders working for gender and racial parity both in society and within their own organizations.

This month, we spoke with the Publisher and CEO of Diversity Woman Media, Dr. Sheila Robinson. Dr. Robinson is a former corporate executive turned successful entrepreneur and media executive who has a keen understanding of how gender and race interplay in the workplace. She uses her media platform to advocate for, lift up and advise women of color to help them succeed in the corporate world. Dr. Robinson also serves as a member of the Paradigm for Parity® coalition steering committee.

Black History Month honors the legacy of the women and men who were pioneers in advancing civil and equal rights. It is a time to celebrate the progress in leveling the playing field for people of color, and to acknowledge that we have a long way to go to achieve true parity in both the workplace and in society as a whole.

Women and men enter the workforce at the same rate, but as women climb the corporate ladder the percent of women in leadership positions drops significantly, according to the 2018 Women in the Workplace report. Paradigm for Parity® coalition companies are working to prioritize diversity as they hire and promote employees. Executives from Bloomberg LP, Ingersoll Rand and Willis Towers Watson share the steps they are taking to get more women into leadership positions.

Unconscious bias can create barriers that greatly impact women in the workplace. That’s why the first step in the Paradigm for Parity® coalition 5-Point Action Plan encourages companies to minimize or eliminate unconscious bias. AEP, Eastman and Juniper Networks are three companies that are working to help employees understand and address their own biases.

The research is clear — companies that are diverse perform better. A 2018 McKinsey study shows that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 21 percent more likely to experience above-average profitability than other companies.

The Paradigm for Parity® 5-Point Action Plan is comprised of actionable steps that companies can take to achieve gender parity in corporate leadership by 2030. Our 92 committed companies are using the action plan to design programs and practices within their own companies to close the gender gap. Edison International, Heidrick & Struggles and VF Corporation are making meaningful changes within their companies to increase the number of women in leadership positions.

A critical step to closing the gender gap in corporate leadership is setting measurable goals and communicating about progress. Since the Paradigm for Parity® coalition launched two years ago, our 92 companies are putting our 5-Point Action Plan into practice and they are seeing the results. Leaders from three coalition companies — Accenture, Sodexo and UTC — are sharing the goals that they’ve set and how they are working to achieve them.

Although women in the United States make up close to half (47%) of the total labor force, they still only represent 21% of corporate leadership roles in the U.S. The Paradigm for Parity® coalition was created to thoughtfully address this imbalance and help companies advance more women to leadership positions.

When I think about women’s leadership, several big words come to mind–empowerment, leadership, parity–but I keep coming back to smaller words. In fact, it’s a string of two-letter words that, together, make a BIG impact: If it is to be, it is up to me.

IN THE NEWS

When Ellen Kullman was in engineering school, some professors would say to her, “You’re the only woman who has ever taken this class.” Kullman, the former CEO of DuPont, thought to herself at the time, “Great! I’m first.”

Years later, Kullman, now a co-chair of Paradigm for Parity®, a coalition working to close the gender leadership gap, says, “At the time, I didn’t think of that as a negative. I thought of it as a positive, that I was breaking ground.”

Workplace issues that used to be saved for watercooler talk and private conversations—from sexual harassment to the pay gap— are now becoming headlines. The common thread through all these stories is the lack of power women have in the workplace.

International Women’s Day is upon us. This year’s theme is #PressForProgress, “a strong call-to-action to press forward and progress gender parity.” In the spirit of the holiday, Fortune asked ten powerful women how we can all press forward—and to share with us their favorite pieces of advice. Here is what they said:

A DuPont Company board meeting in 1952.Seated at an enormous board table are more than two dozen men in white shirts, ties and business suits. The top executives of the industrial giant are identified as “men with backgrounds in various phases of business.” The year is 1952.

Australian Financial Review, by Melissa Ries, Vice-president and General Manager, Asia Pacific at SkillsoftOn March 8 the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women across the world will be recognised and celebrated. Despite the many successes of women in the workplace and the leaps we have taken to earn our place as equals on business leadership teams, there is still work to be done.

SmartBrief, by Alaina LoveParadigm for Parity, a coalition of companies, business leaders and academics that are committed to gender parity in the workplace by 2030, offer a five-point action plan for addressing the development of women that is worth examining for your own company.

Business Wire, SkillsoftSkillsoft, the global leader in corporate learning, today announced it has joined Paradigm for Parity® to bring gender parity to corporate leadership. “We are absolutely committed to gender equality and are delighted to sign the Paradigm for Parity® pledge,” said Bill Donoghue, chairman and CEO of the Skillsoft Group.

Chicago Tribune, by Samantha Bomkamp“We do see tremendous evidence that leadership is hungry for diversity,” said Susan McLaughlin, a partner at executive search firm Pierce Consulting Partners and board chair of C200, a Chicago-based leadership group for women in business. McLaughlin pointed to efforts like “Paradigm for Parity,” a group formed with a goal of achieving gender parity across all levels of corporate leadership by 2030, as one of the reasons for her confidence.

Industry Week, by Bob LeducOver the last two decades, the manufacturing industry has accelerated its evolution significantly to meet the growing demands of global customers. That is true of the aerospace industry, and it’s certainly true for Pratt & Whitney. As part of our commitment, we have partnered with Paradigm for Parity.